A Nice Birthday

Tuesday was my actual birthday and my husband continued to make it a special one. We got up and went for coffee before visiting a preschool for Joshua. I know, it seems crazy that we are looking at preschools, but sometimes the wait lists can be quite long. We then came home and had a nice lunch from a local cafe. One of the things I really wanted for my birthday was a date night. Auntie Megan was a rock star and came over to watch Joshua so that Dave and I could go have a very lovely dinner at Oliveto in Rockridge.
Heading out to dinner.

Thanks Auntie Megan!!!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Our Memorial Day weekend started Friday afternoon with some playtime in the bumbo seat.


Friday evening we went to Angie, Jim and Cody's (4.5 yrs) house for a lovely dinner. Chris, Annette and their 7 mo daughter, Leila, joined us. Angie is due in July and they will be adding a baby girl to the family. There was lots of baby talk at the table. It was a really fun evening. Unfortunately, I only took a couple of pictures.
Daddy and Joshua ready to go. Joshua's shirt says "I'm a McCutie." It was meant to be a St Patrick's day shirt, but is a perfect everyday shirt for this McEwen.

Joshua and Leila at the nights end. Leila had been sleeping, but our energizer monkey was awake.

On Saturday we went to a new coffee house in Alamo for our coffee and crossword. Joshua wanted to be casual in his baby gap jogging suit for all the errands of the day.

Morning nap time in the swing

The monkey wakes up

On Sunday morning, we headed in to San Francisco to meet the Yungs for brunch. What I found was also the Jungs who joined us for brunch at Absinthe as a birthday surprise for me. It was wonderful to have a very yummy brunch with my family and such great friends!

Miss Madeline looking more grown up every time we see her. She is such a delight!

The Yung family with baby boy on the way.

Dave, Madeline (enjoying a french fry) and Joyce

Joshua slept for part of brunch which was great as it allowed us to eat and catch up with everyone. Joshua sported his turtle shirt which was a gift from his Auntie Rebecca.

Joshua mid-stretch with Auntie Laurel and Uncle Chris

Chillin with Uncle Chris

Joshua needed to finish eating, but we didn't want to hold up the table too long at the busy restaurant, so we went to a cafe down the block and had some tea.

Joshua is always going to win in a starring contest.

Hanging out in the cafe.

After leaving the city, we headed to Mayen's second birthday party in Oakland. The party was at Fairyland. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and it was cold, foggy and windy. We managed to stay for a short bit to sing Happy Birthday to the birthday girl, but then headed home to get some rest.

Just to round out a very busy social day, we headed to Mike and Michaela's house for a BBQ to celebrate Mike's birthday. It was a fun night and Joshua did so well. He was the only kid in attendance. We came home and the monkey was so wired it was a little tough to get him down. Luckily he wasn't super fussy, he just wanted to smile, be cute and play the tongue game, not sleep. It didn't take too long to convince him that it was time for sleep and then he slept hard that night. We are lucky to have a kid who really likes being around people.

Due to the busy day on Sunday, we decided that Monday would be a more relaxing day. Auntie Megan came over and we went to Millie's Kitchen in Lafayette for brunch.

We played at home for the rest of the day. Here is Joshua doing some tummy time. As you can tell, he has gotten a lot stronger and is able to look up straight ahead. I was very impressed.

More tummy time

In the early evening we took a family walk. It was lovely outside and nice to get out. Joshua loved looking around at everything and was mesmerized for the entire 45 minutes we were gone.

The tongue game

I have been trying for several weeks to capture Joshua's favorite game....the tongue game. One day several weeks ago he started looking at us and sticking his tongue out. When we reciprocated, he smiled and almost laughed. Now it is a daily game, especially on the changing table, in the car seat, or in the mornings with Daddy. I hope to get a video of it one day, but every time I try, Joshua pays more attention to the camera and stops the game.

Hot days

Just this past week, Joshua has been trying out his Bumbo seat. He is definitely getting stronger and more head control, but Mom is always ready to catch the bobbing head if needed.


Last Saturday, Auntie Megan was house and dog sitting in Oakland, so she came over for a morning walk.


We stopped by Pete's for coffee and then headed to Briones Regional Park for our 2 mile walk with all of us, Auntie Megan and Hunter the dog.

Joshua likes riding facing out sometimes to be able to see the world. Everything is very fascinating.

Rest break on the trail and a family picture.

It was really fun to get out, but we were definitely ready to be done at the end as it really started to heat up.

On Sunday, we decided to do a big adventure to the city because it was 80 degrees in SF. We took the BART trains in a out of the city and then walked up the hill to Noe Valley for lunch, a little window shopping and gelato.

Joshua and I waiting for the BART train at the Orinda station.

Still waiting on the train with Daddy. Joshua proceeded to crash on the train in about one stop and slept for the next nearly two hours. It meant Mom got to have a whole meal using both hands. Yea!

Heading back down the hill to BART from Noe Valley. It was a very fun adventure day!

After an evening bath, Daddy read a few books and Joshua was really into it that night. This one is No, No, No Little Turtles. Very cute book.

Goodnight Moon is always a classic

Happy 3 Month Birthday and Mother's Day

I will start this post off with a few pictures from last week.

Here is Joshua giving his grin that will one day (I am afraid) woo the ladies.

Almost bald is beautiful.



Unfortunately, our family has been sick for the past week. Dave came down with a cold first and then Joshua. Like most babies, Joshua hated being congested so Dave went and got this humidifier. Mr. Dragon blows steam out the top. I guess if you have to have one, it might as well be fun right?!?


Sometimes after Dave gets home, we take an evening stroll around the neighborhood.

Joshua is usually quite chill and checking out the world.

Auntie Megan's Mom, Louise came into town to visit her daughter for Mothers Day. Joshua and I were able to meet them in Alameda for lunch. We had a really fun time chatting it up. Like mother, like daughter in that Joshua loved Louise and proceeded right off to sleep in her lap.

On Saturday afternoon, Joshua and I hung out at home while Dave had a boys day with Todd and Kevin. Todd and Melissa will be delivering twins within a week to hopefully 3-4 weeks, so the guys wanted to have a little time together before things get super crazy for the Gottshalls.

Joshua posing on his three month birthday.

It was very nice that on Mother's Day morning, I woke up to pretty much this exact facial expression. I felt Joshua moving and looked to see my wide-eyed happy son lying next to me.

The raised eyebrows represent his look of intense interest.

Daddy ran to get special coffee and a scone for me while I fed Joshua. That was the start of several surprises from my boys.

Joshua pre morning nap time.

Joshua was thrilled to be back "under the sea" as he has been too congested in the preceding days to tolerate being flat under his activity gym.

We decided it was time to wear one of the many pairs of shoes this kid has. I guess more appropriately, these are sock keepers.

I was met with some nice cards and presents upon getting out of my 20 minute shower. What a treat.

Dave got me these beautiful flowers and a lovely card. Joshua got me a Joshua Radin CD since they share the same name and a cute card. My parents sent a portable digital photo frame and a nice card.

Dave (and Joshua according to Dave) planned a great picnic at Lafayette Reservoir. He made a chicken salad with green beans, potatoes, plain yogurt and horseradish. We also had salami, pesto cheese and a Mediterranean salad. We opened a bottle of chardonnay that we had purchased together at a winery in El Dorado county a while back. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the almost 3 mile walk around the reservoir.

We found a table away from the trail which was really nice.

The latest family picture.

My evening ended with a nice back massage and a bath.
I hope all the Moms reading this had a lovely day and felt spoiled too!!